


The Fall

by jazzysoggy



Category: Doctor Who (2005), Sherlock (TV)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-08
Updated: 2020-10-08
Packaged: 2021-03-08 04:41:14
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,257
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26899843
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/jazzysoggy/pseuds/jazzysoggy
Summary: Rose confronts Moriarty on the rooftop of St. Bart. A theoretical "The Reichenbach Fall" based on the pretense of my first story.
Kudos: 4





	The Fall

"Well. Here we are at last. You and me, Rose. And our problem. The Final Problem." started Moriarty as his phone plays "Staying Alive". 

"Stayin' alive! It's so boring, isn't it? It's just...staying."

"All my life, I've been searching for distractions. And you were the best distraction and now I don't even have you. Because I've beaten you. And you know what? In the end, it was easy. Now I've got to go back to playing with ordinary people. And it turns out, you're ordinary. Just like all of them. Oh well."

"Did you start to wonder if I was real? Did I nearly get ya?" asked Moriarty.

"Richard Brook." Rose stated.

"Nobody seems to get the joke. But you do." Moriarty said.

"Obviously." Rose said.

"'Atta boy" Moriarty continued.

"Rich Brook in German is Reichenbach. The case that made my name." Rose said.

"Just tryin' to have some fun." Moriarty said, before noticing Rose's tapping.

"Good. You got that too." Moriarty said in delight.

"Beats like digits. Every beat is a one, every rest is a zero. Binary code. That's why all those assassins' tried to save my life. It was hidden on me, hidden inside my head. A few simple lines of computer code that can break into any system." Rose explained.

"Told all my clients. Last one to Rose is a sissy."

"Yes, but now that I have the code, I can use it to alter the records. I can bring back Jim Moriarty and kill Rich Brook."

Moriarty gazes at her, then started looking disappointed. Before saying, "No, no, no, no, no, this is too easy." 

Burying his head in his heads, before continuing, "This is too easy."

"There is no key, DOOFUS!" screamed Moriarty.

"Those digits are meaningless. They're utterly meaningless."

Rose stared at him, confused.

"You don't really think a couple of lines of computer code are gonna crash the world around our ears? I'm disappointed." Moriarty says, before making his voice sound moronic as he continues, "I'm disappointed in you, ordinary Rose."

"But the rhythm..." Rose said, trailing off.

"Partita number one. Thank you, Johann Sebastian Bach." Moriarty said.

"But then how did..." Rose trailed off, running the possibilities in her head.

"Then how did I break into the Bank, to the Tower, to the Prison?" Moriarty started.

"Daylight robbery. All it takes is some willing participants."

"I knew you'd fall for it. That's your weakness - you always want everything to be clever. Now, shall we finish the game? One final act. Glad you chose a tall building - nice way to do it."

Rose now is staring into the distance, completely shocked, before asking, "Do it? Do - do what?"

She blinks before she realizes in horror what he was about to ask her to do. "Yes, of course. My suicide." 

"Genius detective proved to be a fraud. I read it in the paper, so it must be true. I love news papers. Fairytales."

Rose walks toward the ledge, starting to think of a way out of this situation.

"And pretty Grimm ones too." Moriarty starts.

221B. A taxi pulls up outside and John jumps out and hurries towards the door, scrabbling for his keys. Hurrying inside, he sees the tattooed bald workman standing at the top of his stepladder just in front of the stairs, drilling a hole into the wall. Mrs. Hudson is standing nearby watching him. As John runs towards her, she jolts in startlement, having not heard his approach over the sound of the drill.

"Oh, God, John! You made me jump!" said a startled Mrs. Hudson.

"But …" John started, confused as to why Mrs. Hudson is still standing.

"Is everything okay now with the police? Has, um, Rose sorted it all out?" Started Mrs. Hudson

John stares for a moment longer and then it suddenly sinks in.

"Oh my God." says John, horrified.

He turns around and runs outside, looking up and down the street frantically. Luckily he immediately sees what he needs.

"Taxi!"

A cab begins to pull over on the other side of the road. John chases across the road towards it.

"Taxi!"

A man is standing at the side of the road having also just hailed the cab. As he leans into the front window to tell the driver his destination, John runs around the cab and pulls open the rear door, talking even as he scrambles inside.

"No, no, no, no, police! … Sort of." said John.

"Oh, thanks, mate – thanks a lot!" said the cab driver.

Back on the rooftops of Bart, the pair of geniuses are facing off each other.

"I can still prove that you created an entirely false identity" started Rose.

"Oh just kill yourself. It's a lot less effort." said a weary Moriarty.

Rose started pacing, running all possible scenarios.

"Go on. For me. Pleeeeeeeeeese?" Moriarty said, squealing the last word.

Suddenly, Rose grabs Moriarty by the collar of his coat, shoving him near the edge, before realizing that he's only looking at her with interest, not showing a ounce of fear. 

"You're insane." Rose said.

Moriarty blinks, before saying, "You're just getting that now?"

Rose then shoves him further back, until he was over the edge. Moriarty then spread his hands out, only suspended by Rose's hands.

"Okay, let me give you a little extra incentive." Moriarty started.

"Your friends will die if you don't." 

"John" Rose said fearfully.

"Not just John, Everyone." Moriarty added.

"Mrs. Hudson." Rose added.

"Everyone." Moriarty repeated.

"Mum, Dad, Tony, and Lestrade." Rose listed in utter fear.

"6 gunmen; 6 victims. There's no stopping them now."

Furiously, Rose pulls Moriarty back to safety. Moriarty only stared, before continuing.

"Unless my people see you jump."

Triumphantly, Moriarty smiled and proclaimed, "You can have me arrested; you can torture me you can do anything you like with me; but nothing's gonna prevent then from pulling the trigger. Your only three friends in the world will die...unless..."

"...unless I kill myself - completing the saga."

Moriarty nods and smiles ecstatically.

"You've gotta admit that's sexier."

Gazing into the distance, lost in thought and memory, before finishing, "And I die in disgrace."

"Of course. That's the point of this." stated Moriarty in a matter-of-fact tone.

Rose is looking over the ledge, seeing the people walking across the ground. 

"Oh yeah, my employer decided to let me deliver this message to you before you jump." Jim started:

"On the fields of Trenzalore, at the return of the wolf, the fall of the eleventh, and the fall of the first, when no living creature can speak falsely or fail to answer, a Question will be asked, a question that must never ever be answered."

Rose froze, shaking in fear and despair, knowing she has heard this before. She then remembers what the beast told her, so long ago. "The valiant child who will die in battle so very soon."

"Oh, that's gotten you now, has it. But we're running out of time, and you've got an audience now. Off you pop." Moriarty started.

"Go on."

"I told you how this ends."

"Your death is the only thing that's gonna call of the killers. I'm certainly not gonna do it." 

"Would you give me...one moment of privacy?" asked Rose.

"Please?"

Disappointed, Moriarty looked at Rose, before replying, "Of Couse."

Rose then started thinking, before laughing. Jim spins around furiously, not understanding.

"What?"

"What is it?"

"What did I miss?"

"'You're not going to do it.'" Rose started

"So the killers can be called off, then - there's a recall code or a word or a number." she continued, and started circling Moriarty.

"I don't have to die...if I've got you." Rose stated.

"Oh! You think you can make me stop the order? You think you can make me do that?" Moriarty asked.

"Yes. So do you." Rose said, still circling him.

"Rose, your big brother and all the King's horses couldn't make me do a thing I don't want to." 

"Yes, but I'm not my brother, remember? I am just like you. Prepared to do anything to save those I care about. And don't believe I won't, because I've done worse things than you ever will, worse than even ordinary people can imagine. You want to know what it feels like to burn? I sure can burn you." Rose said.

"Naah. You _talk_ big. Naah. You’re ordinary. You’re ordinary – you’re on the side of the angels." Moriarty countered.

"I may still be on the side of the angels, but don't think once that I am still one of them." Rose said, with sadness in this realization, but quickly smothering it.

"No, you're not." Moriarty realizes after looking into Rose's eyes, eyes that could burn like hell, yet cold as ice at the same time.

"I see. You're not ordinary. No. You're me." Moriarty hissed out, delighted and laughing.

"You're me! Thank you!" 

"Rose Tyler. Thank you. Bless you." he said, blinking as if trying to hold back tears.

"As long as I'm alive, you can save your friends; you've got a way out." He continues to blink with his gaze lowered.

"Well good luck with that." he said, raising his eyes to Rose, grinning like a madman, opening his mouth wide open, and stealing her pistol. Aiming it into his mouth, he pulled the trigger with one swift pull, and suddenly, he was no more. Rose stares in horror as the blood trickled out of his mouth, hearing the crack of his head hitting the ground, and realizes she not only has gone too far, she realizes there is only one solution in order to save everyone.

Not seen by Rose, a man trots up a staircase and then sits down on the stairs and begins to assemble a high-powered rifle. Meanwhile, John is sitting anxiously in a taxi on his way to Bart's. 

At 221, Mrs. Hudson gives a mug of tea to the workman who is squatting in the hallway. Unbeknowest to her, the same "workman" was a assassin hired by Moriarty to kill her if Rose's death is not seen. 

A plain clothed police officer is making his rounds looking for Greg's office, with a gun on his holster, ready to shoot at a given time if Rose's fall was not seen. Greg was speaking on the phone at the moment, and would be in no position to defend himself.

Pete Tyler was making his rounds, inspecting a factory that recently started creating a new brand of soft drinks for his company. He was entirely oblivious to the fact that one of his bodyguards has been pressured by Moriarty to kill him, unless Rose's death was seen.

Jackie Tyler was at the grocery store buying food for the upcoming family diner, where an assassin disguised as a grocery store worker was ready to shoot her if Rose's death did not happen to cancel the orders.

Tony Tyler was riding in a limo to the government, where he was being trailed by a gunman who had orders to shoot and kill him if Rose's death was not witnessed.

Rose quickly assesses the situation, before seeing John exit the cab. John, in horror gets out of the cab and was about to rush in before Rose's call came in. John quickly raised the phone, answering, "Hello?"

"John." Rose greeted.

"Hey, Rose, you okay?"

"Turn around and walk back to where the cab was right now."

"No, I'm coming in." John steadily replied.

"Just do as I ask. Please." Rose frantically said, afraid the already unsalvageable situation would deteriorate even further.

"Where?" John asked, before walking close to where the taxi dropped him off.

"Stop there" Rose commanded once he was where she wanted him to be. John turned around, only to be met with a horrifying scene.

"Oh God."

"I...I...I can't come down, so I should...I should tie up some loose ends."

"What's going on?" John asked, anxious of what might be coming next.

"I'm....I'm sorry. It's all true." Rose said, calmly even as her heart was breaking as she said every word.

"Wh-what?" John stuttered, in complete wild confusion, not even able to comprehend what she had just said.

"Everything they said about me. I made up Moriarty." Rose said, striving to keep herself from breaking up.

"Why are you saying this." John asked

"I'm a fake." Rose continued, her voice breaking a bit.

"Rose..."

"The newspapers were right all along. I want you to tell Lestrade; I want you to tell Mrs. Hudson, and Molly ... in fact, tell the world that I created Moriarty." Rose tearfully said.

"Okay, shut up, Rose, shut up. The first time we met...the first time we met, you knew all about my sister, right?"

"Nobody could be that clever." Rose stated.

"You could" John said.

"I researched you." Rose quietly said, as tear trailed down her cheeks. "Before we met I discovered everything that I could to impress you. It's a trick. Just a magic trick."

"No. All right, stop it now." John said, still in disbelief, quickly walking to the hospital entrance.

Rose panicked inside, and told him, "No, stay exactly where you are. Don't move."

John backs up back to where he was. "All right."

"Keep your eyes fixed on me." Rose said frantically, trying to keep herself from falling apart. "Please, just one more thing for me?"

"Do what?" John said, still confused.

"This phone call--it's...it's my note. My last message for everyone." Rose said.

John begins to realize the implications of what she had said. "Leave a note when?" John said with every last ounce of strength.

"Goodbye, John." Rose said before she lowered her arms, dropping the phone, the last sound John heard was the clang of the phone hitting the ground. John screamed, "No. ROSE!".

Rose thought to herself, thinking what would be a good set of last words, or at least for a while, before finally settling with one.

"Allons-y" Rose shouted before spreading her arms to either side and falling forward, plummeting towards the ground as John stared in utter horror.

A couple seconds later, Rose's body impacted the ground. John couldn't hear anything, entirely focused on getting to the body as soon as possible. Because of this, he soon got hit by a cyclist, falling to the ground and hitting his head. He struggles to get back up and stay conscious. Soon, a lorry pulls up and drops off a couple of medics from the hospital, hurrying to prevent others from seeing the body. John rolls to his side, trying to see where Rose was lying, before seeing lots of blood flowing from her head. Near the site, lots of onlookers were excited about what they saw, gossiping about what just happened.

"Rose, Rose..." John whimpered.

"I'm a doctor, let me come through. Let me come through, please." John said, barging his way through the crowd.

"No, she's my friend. She's my friend. Please."

Kneeling down to the body, he tries to check for a pulse, before getting hit by a medic's stretcher. Knocked over a knocked out, he drowned a bit before getting up, just in time to see the wide eyes and bloody face of a pretty dead Rose.

"God, No."

On a nearby building, a rifle is aimed right at John's head. As the assassin sees Rose's dead body, he finally disassembles his guns, and walks away.

In Torchwood One's common room, Tony has multiple newspapers splayed out, with headlines screaming, "SUICIDE OF FAKE GENIUS", "SUPER-SLEUTH IS DEAD" and "Fraudulent detective takes her own life". Folding the papers, and placing them in a file, he stares into the distance, before whispering, "Please don't be dead Rosie."

In 221B, John is sitting in a armchair, dressed but barefooted and staring off into the distance, lost and alone.

Soon, John comes to see his therapist, gazing blankly at her. Ella breaks the silence by starting off with, "There's stuff that you wanted to say...."

John opens his mouth before closing it. "...But didn't say it." Ella continued.

"Yeah." John said, his voice breaking.

"Say it now" Ella told him.

"No." shaking his head, in tears. "Sorry. I can't"

John soon is riding in a cab with Mrs. Hudson holding a bunch of flowers, with silence that was for once, the only thing needed. Not long afterwards, they stand beside each other in front of a black marble headstone. The flowers are now resting at the base of the headstone.

"There's all the stuff, all the science equipment. I left it all in boxes. I don't know what needs doing. I thought I'd take it to a school." She says, looking at John.

"Would you....?" She asks, trailing off.

"I can't go back to the flat again - no at the moment." John replies quickly

"I'm angry." John stated, even though he had little energy left in to be angry.

"It's okay, John. There's nothing unusual in that. That's the way she made everyone feel." She said, gazing at the headstone that bears the words:

ROSE TYLER

"Some people live more in 20 years than others

do in 80. It's not the time that matters. It's the person."

"All the marks on my table; and the noise - firing guns at half past one in the morning!" Mrs. Hudson said, lost in memory.

"Yeah." was all John could muster.

"Bloody specimens in my fridge. Imagine - keeping bodies where there's food!" 

"Yes."

"And the fighting! Drove me up the wall with all her carryings-on!" Mrs. Hudson said, her voice breaking.

"Yeah, listen: I-I'm not actually that angry, okay?" John said.

"Okay." 

Mrs. Hudson soon turned away, telling John, "I'll leave you alone to, erm....you know." before walking away and crying.

John then turns back to the grave, thinking thoughtfully, before starting. "Um...mmm. You...you told me once that you weren't a hero. Umm...there were times I didn't think you were human, even you didn't think you were human at times, but let me tell you this: you were the best girl, and the most human...human being that I've ever known and no-one will ever convince me that you told me a lie, and so...There." John breathes in and out, whimpering slightly, before putting his fingertips on the gravestone, before finally starting again.

"I was so alone, and I owe you so much."

"Okay."

John starts to walk away before turning back to the grave.

"No, please, there's just one more thing, mate, one more thing: one more miracle, Rose, for me. Don't...be..." John's voice is breaking, tears filling his eyes, "...dead. Would you do....? Just for me, just stop it." gesturing at the grave, "Stop this." 

John sighs, standing there, knowing there was nothing he could do, broken. Finally, he wipes his eyes, sniffs deeply and raises his head, coming to attention in front of his best friend, giving her a final salute, a final farewell, before finally giving himself to be dismissed, and walks away.

In the distance, under a tree and obscured from view by other headstones, a not so dead Rose Tyler watches as her best friend walks across the graveyard until finally disappearing from view. She reflects on this moment for a long moment, thinking of how things might've ended had she gone down a different path, before squashing the thought entirely. She then proceeds to walk away, knowing that she needed to get ready for the next task of her next 2 to 3 years.


End file.
